


Let It Roll

by gingerfic



Category: Glee
Genre: Angst, Cruise Ships, F/M, Fluff, Future Fic, Reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-10
Updated: 2014-09-10
Packaged: 2018-02-16 22:39:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2287016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gingerfic/pseuds/gingerfic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam and Mercedes agreed to separate in 5x20, but Sam's heart has never moved on even though they  have had almost no contact since then.<br/>Three years later they run into each other under unusual circumstances. Is the chemistry still there? Does Mercedes still think about Sam as often as he's been thinking about her?</p>
<p>The title comes from the Secondhand Serenade song <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2E7mebAHZM8">Let It Roll</a></p>
            </blockquote>





	Let It Roll

**Author's Note:**

> The truth is that a few weeks ago I was on a whalewatching cruise in Alaska (I live here) and this opening scene came to me and I thought hey, that would be cute to write...so I did. I think this story has potential to be a fun and fluffy multi-chapter fic, but I'm not going to write it all out unless I know there are interested readers. So if you like it and want more, PLEASE let me know!!
> 
> Also, if I do continue it, I would like a beta reader...if you're interested let me know (my tumblr is gingerfic if you'd prefer to contact me that way).

_ “I can’t do this to you anymore.” Mercedes sighed and shook her head in frustration and hurt at what she knew she was about to say. “Sam, I love you so much, but I’m looking at my life and I don’t think I’m gonna be ready until I’m like thirty. And asking you to wait that long is like asking a cheetah not to run.” _

_ “It’s ok. I’m ok with it. I...yeah it’s, it’s hard. But I have this feeling that we’re meant to be together.” _

_ “Who’s to say that we’re not?” _

_ “Do you think I’m going to cheat on you?” _

_ “No, actually, I think you won’t. And I think you’ll resent me for it. And I think that we’re holding on way too tight, that we’re not believing in our love and that we’re going to break it.” Mercedes paused and stared deeply into his eyes before continuing. “It’s gonna burn me to see you with other girls. But I know this is the right thing.” _

_ Sam sighed and shifted awkwardly. “Just know that whoever I’m with or whatever I’m doing, I’d rather be doing it with you.” _

_ Mercedes’ face scrunched up and she blinked a few times as the tears came. Sam pulled her lovingly into his arms. _

_ “Let’s make a deal” she whispered to him. “If I happen to decide to change my mind and not wait, I’ll give you a call.” _

_ Sam’s smile covered for both his heartbreak and his knowledge that that day would probably never come. “Deal.” _

* * * * *

Sam had gone through the scene in his head hundreds of times in the last three years. He had dated a few girls over that time, but sooner or later he always ended up just thinking about Mercedes again. He’d never gotten serious with any of those girls. He hadn’t even slept with any of them (he’d gotten close a couple of times, but then in the moment just couldn’t bring himself to go through with it--he hadn’t been joking when he said that he’d rather be with Mercedes). He knew that Mercedes wouldn’t judge him for whatever he did, but he also just couldn’t seem to get interested in any other girls anymore. He missed Mercedes like crazy.

They didn’t talk much. Well, they didn’t talk at all actually. He had seen her at Kurt and Blaine’s wedding last year of course, and run into her at a couple of New Directions competitions (they may  have been disbanded multiple times but they always got re-formed within a month or two and this time had been no different.) Sam heard about what Mercedes was doing because of all their mutual friends of course, but he didn’t talk with her directly. There weren’t any phone calls, emails, or texts going between them. 

At least once a week he would sit there and stare at his laptop or his cell phone, his fingers hovering over the keys as he thought about calling her. Sometimes he wrote a whole email or text message to her before deleting it. He had never sent one though. She said she didn't want it, and he respected her on that.  


* * * * *

_ “It’s better to make a clean break, Sam. If we keep in touch all the time we’re not going to feel like we’re really free to fly on our own. I don’t want you to feel held back by me. I want you to be able to be yourself and live your own life.” _

_ “But I love you.” _

_ “I know. I love you too. That’s why I have to let you go.” _

* * * * *

Clean break my foot. It doesn’t matter how clean the break is, it’s still a break. And a part of Sam had felt broken ever since Mercedes had left. 

Sam liked being back in Ohio. He didn’t miss the busy streets or noise of the big city at all. He didn’t miss how rude and pushy people were in the city. He was a country boy and he was happier in a small town. He was working as a personal trainer in Lima now, and he really liked it. The money was pretty good, and even though his dad had a steady job now Sam put a portion of every paycheck into a savings account for his family, just in case. 

He had briefly toyed with the idea of teaching, and even though he was pretty sure now that he wasn’t going to do that, he had spent some time at McKinley and gotten to know some of the other teachers. Coach Beiste had let him be the assistant coach for the football team this year even though he wasn’t technically supposed to since he wasn’t a teacher. She had just told Principal Sylvester that Sam had made starting quarterback when he was a sophomore, and that if they wanted to win this year it was a good idea to have him helping. Sam had no idea what strings they  had pulled to make it happen, but he knew better than to question Beiste OR Sylvester, so he just smiled and started helping.

That was basically how he had gotten this gig: being a chaperone for a special field trip to Alaska to study marine ecosystems. Why a marine biology enthusiast was teaching in Lima, Ohio was not something he had thought to question. All he knew was that every year one of the McKinley science teachers took a select group of her seniors on a trip to Alaska for two weeks to study ocean animals and hopefully see some whales. (Sam wasn’t sure whether he was excited or terrified at the prospect of seeing a whale in the wild, but Mrs. Farr had needed a male chaperone to room with the five boys, and he didn’t have to pay anything, so he had said thank you and packed his bag.)

That’s where he was right now: leaning against the railing of an Alaskan cruise boat. The cool, salty sea air ruffled his hair and blew right through his clothes. In spite of the bright August sunshine, he had underestimated how cold the wind would be here. He was thinking about going back to his room for a jacket when he heard a voice behind him that startled him out of his reverie. 

A voice he knew well, but one he had only heard a handful of times since that day in New York. A voice he loved. A voice he would never admit that he dreamed about almost every night. 

“Sam Evans, is that you?”

He turned away from the railing, begging his eyes to confirm what his ears were telling him.

They did.

“What on earth are you doing here on a boat in Alaska?!” the short, perky woman asked as she held out her arms to him.

“Mercedes!”

He fell into her arms and hugged her with three years worth of missing her.


End file.
